Sandzak, Serbia – It is necessary to condemn every act of terrorism, including the one that took place in Paris. Killing innocent people is uncivilized – stated Mufti of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Muamer ef. Zukorlic.
In an interview for “Blic”, he points out that civilization is faced with the phenomenon of terrorism and terror in general and that the problem must be looked at from different angles, not only through daily politics.
– It is naive to accept the idea that seven, eight people entered a European capital, despite the military, intelligence services and video surveillance, on a day when many sporting and cultural events were taking place, and that handful of people managed to strike one nation – in many places at once. Something's not right. If we believe in this, we believe that this civilization is on its knees.
If every atomic bomb were to drop, 300-400 million Muslims would disappear. But what about the rest?
Do these attacks trigger a change in the attitude towards Muslims?
– The attacks significantly change the view of Muslims. There are one billion and 600 million Muslims in the world. Even if it were to come to war and atomic bombs were to drop, 300 to 400 million Muslims would disappear. But what about the rest? As a Muslim and a Mufti, I feel embarrassed to have to apologize for something I am not guilty of. This creates a gap between those of us who try to distance ourselves from these acts and those who measure our announcements after each attack and criticize us if we don’t comment.
ISIS is on the border of Israel, and Israel isn’t nervous about this !?
Do you expect a wider front to form – US, Russia, Britain, France – in the fight against ISIS?
– Apparently only two fronts exist. Russian and American. The only question is to whom will France conform. I do not expect a united front, because Western civilizations interests are above their principles. No terrorism of any kind will separate them from their energy, geopolitical or other interests.
The attitude towards ISIS of those who declare themselves against them is not the same. ISIS is already on the border of Israel, but Israelis are not nervous about it. This issue is neglected and it shows that there is some infighting. My opinion is that things mustn’t be resolved with weapons. Terror is a social deviation, a disease that can be solved by removing the roots, causes. Finally, the ideological abuse of Islam is something that should be dealt with by Muslims.
A hit on the autonomy of the Islamic community, clears the field for extremism
Why?
- Because some political factors have broken through the sovereignty of the IC and the constitutionally guaranteed rights it has to perform its function. If Serbia really wants to solve this problem, we need to do everything in our power for the Islamic Community to bea united once more and to know the rights and obligations. For Muslims to be raised and educated in the spirit of what Islam truly is – tolerance, positive attitude towards members of their communities and our non-Muslim neighbors.
People mustn’t be labeled as terrorists just because they practice Salafism and have long beards
How much of a threat is the Wahhabi movement?
– Salafism in its principle is not a religious problem until it grows into violence. Each person has the right to live the faith as he pleases. The red line beyond which we (the IC) do not permit our believers to tread is violence in favor of imposing its teachings. However, it is unfair to place someone in the context of violence just because of a long beard.
Problems in Sandzak
Serbia needs to change its attitude towards Sandzak and let the citizen freely choose their representatives. We have a minister who has been minister his whole life. It is ironic and sends a bad message to the citizens of Sandzak, that who works in the government in Belgrade is here to stay because they serve the government. Turning heads when it comes to stolen elections is also a serious problem. Votes are being bought. There is a video clip in which Ugljanin’s man put 20 ballots in the box and nothing was done. It is not good that Belgrade has its players in Sandzak. Sandzak should have its own authentic representatives in Belgrade that will fight for the rights of the citizens in this part of Serbia. The biggest drug lord was arrested recently and nobody has asked where he was until now and who kept him safe. All this is a source of frustration because of which the weakest decide on terrorism.
